


the truth doesn't make a noise

by tocourtdisaster



Category: Bones
Genre: F/M, Pre-Het, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-11
Updated: 2009-12-11
Packaged: 2017-10-04 08:39:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tocourtdisaster/pseuds/tocourtdisaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>All of Brennan's carefully constructed reasons for asking Booth this favor fly out the window at her realization that he's actually blushing.</i> Speculation-fic for "The Critic in the Cabernet," written before the episode aired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the truth doesn't make a noise

**Author's Note:**

> This started off as comment fic for [The Anthropologically Inevitable Bones Comment Fic Meme](http://bertie456.livejournal.com/38164.html). And I was totally going to post this there until I realized that it violated the rule stating no spoilers from unaired episodes. Oops. The original prompt was _ Booth/Brennan, "I just want to be part of someone's family,"_ from [](http://her-lovelyheart.livejournal.com/profile)[**her_lovelyheart**](http://her-lovelyheart.livejournal.com/).
> 
> The title comes from The White Stripes song of the same name.

Later on, she'll realize that she probably should have handled her request with a little more tact, but right now, she's too impatient for tact. Direct has always worked for her and she has no reason to believe that direct won't work for her now as well.

"I want you to be the father of my child," she tells him one evening at the diner after they've finished dinner, their empty plates on the table between them.

He chokes on his soda, his face turning pink as he coughs and sputters, Coke dripping over his chin.

"What?" He reaches for his napkin, pressing it to his face and then to the table, mopping up drops of Coke from the laminate surface.

"I want you to be the father of my child," she repeats, trying hard not to vary her tone from before.

"I thought you didn't want kids, Bones," Booth says. His cheeks are still tinged pink and that's when Brennan realizes that he's actually _blushing_. She's never seen him blush before. She thought he was just flushed from his sudden attempt to inhale a liquid.

All of Brennan's carefully constructed reasons for asking Booth this favor fly out the window at her realization that he's actually blushing. She belated realizes that _of course_ Booth would react emotionally to her request. He's an emotional man. He won't accept her logic, not in the face of his emotion, of the emotion that he knows she's capable of.

"I just--" she starts and then stops just as suddenly. Maybe she should tell him to forget it, tell him that it was a stupid whimsical idea she'd had. Hadn't he said once that she lacked whimsy, though?

This is harder than she thought it would be.

"Come on, Bones," he encourages, his tiny grin belied by the intensity in his eyes.

She takes a deep breath before she begins to speak. "I want to learn to love unconditionally like you do, like Angela and Cam and Hodgins and even Sweets do. I want some part of me to live on after I die." She pauses, wondering if she should say the rest, but her bravery is holding for now, so she blurts it out before she can stop herself. "I want to be part of someone's family."

"Temperance." Her given name is barely more than an exhalation of breath from between his lips. "Oh, Temperance."

And then Booth is suddenly around the table, sliding into the seat next to her, his hands coming up to frame her face. Brennan's eyes drift shut as Booth's lips press against her forehead and linger against the suddenly flushed skin of her face.

Even after Booth finally pulls away, Brennan still can't bring herself to open her eyes and meet his gaze. Pressing closer to Booth, she turns her head and buries her face in the side of his neck. The part of her mind that is still aware that they are in public is absolutely mortified by her actions, but the larger part of her, the part that's insecure and scared, just wants to hide herself in her partner's skin.

"You're already part of a family, Temperance," he tells her and Brennan can feel his words vibrating in his chest as much as she can hear them with her ears. "Not even counting Max and Russ, you have Angela and Hodgins and Zack and even Sweets and Cam."

Booth pauses for a moment and Brennan feels his chest expand and contract as he takes a deep breath.

"And you have me, Temperance. You always have and you always will."

Suddenly, Brennan is crying, her tears soaking into the collar of Booth's shirt, hiccupping a little as she tries to catch her breath.

"I'd be honored to be the father of your child."

Booth's hand rubs up and down her back a few times before coming to rest in her hair. His fingers rub circles against her scalp, helping to calm her a little. Her sigh washes across his neck and she watches the goose bumps rise on his skin.

"I'd like to go home now," she says, finally lifting her head from Booth's shoulder, but still unable to meet his eyes.

"Okay, Bones," he says and she doesn't think she's ever been so happy to hear him call her that. _Temperance_ is serious; _Bones_ is normal. She needs normal right now.

Booth drops some bills on the table and then helps her into her jacket. His hand on her back, lower than usual, as he guides her towards his SUV is like a brand against her skin.

**

**end**


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